The wisdom of Separation of Church and State didn’t start with France or the United States. Tough tensions, push and pull between religious and political leadership have always been here, now only resurfacing with vigor once again, worldwide, by voices who wish to control the entire system. It goes back to the bible.
King David danced in religious ecstasy as he brought the Ark of YHWH to Jerusalem, revealing while whirling his private parts. But the issue was not how much flesh he showed - but rather what he wore that day and why: By wearing the skimpy linen priestly garment known as Efod, David takes on a priestly role. And it’s not just that he reveals his private parts to the masses (but not to her anymore) that so enraged Michal, the daughter of King Saul and the first, now discarded, wife of King David - it’s the fact that this dirty dance for the divine revealed David’s real intention - to hold both the crown of power and the mantle of priestly authority. Michal comes from a tradition that still knew better.
Moses was the political leader of the people, guided by private instructions from YHWH, but Aaron, his brother, was the high priest in charge of ritual life; the division of authority was set in place and quite clear. When the leadership passed over to Joshua it was in accordance with this set up - Elazar, Aaron’s son was in charge and other Levite leaders after him. By the time the Prophet Samuel takes over from Eli the priest, he becomes the prophetic power who anoints a new political power - the king. Samuel’s tensions with Saul were in part because the prophet suspected the young king of usurping his regal role by taking on a religious role or challenging the religious authority.
David goes there. Not only does he dance wearing the Efod and functions as a priestly leader by offering sacrifices and blessing the people on that day in the name of YHWH, in today’s chapter he goes as far as nominating his own sons as priests in the new religious establishment, pre-temple, that is set up in their new capital, Jerusalem.
David is not from the tribe of Levi. he’s from Judah. How did he and his sons take over priestly roles?
This consolidation of religious and civic power was as dangerous then as it is now. David’s bureaucracy, detailed in this chapter, following his many victories in regional battles, includes a list of loyal civil servants: Yoav is the General in charge of the Army, Yesoshafat is the Secretary of State, Seraya is the Scribe, Eviatar and Zadok are the official Priests in charge of the religious establishment. It’s all listed to establish the bureaucracy that builds the state - and the last verse of the chapter is particularly intriguing:
וּבְנָיָ֙הוּ֙ בֶּן־יְה֣וֹיָדָ֔ע וְהַכְּרֵתִ֖י וְהַפְּלֵתִ֑י וּבְנֵ֥י דָוִ֖ד כֹּהֲנִ֥ים הָיֽוּ׃
“Benaiah son of Yehoiada was commander of- the Cherethites and the Pelethites; and David’s sons were priests.”
The Cherethites and the Pelethites will show up again and again at key moments in future events. In The David Story, Robert Alter explains who they were: “There is debate over the national identity of the latter but consensus that the former are people of Cretan origins, part of the wave of so-called Sea Peoples who immigrated to Palestine from the Aegean toward the beginning of the eleventh century. David has taken care to set up a special palace guard of foreign mercenaries on whose loyalty he can rely, in contrast to Israelites who might have motives of tribal allegiance or support for some pretender to the throne to attempt to displace him.”
Alter and other scholars point out that the governing system laid out here echoes the Canaanite model and goes back as far as records from 14th century BCE Ugarit. That system includes mercenary forces, as well as the King’s role as both the political and religious leader, with very little room for opposition. And it’s a hereditary system.
That’s where David’s many sons come in. Alter adds: “This curious detail is probably parallel to the report of a palace guard of foreign origins: just as David creates an elite military contingent outside the framework of the Israelite troops, he invests his own sons with sacerdotal duties within the circle of the court, outside the framework of the hereditary priesthood that controlled the public cult.”
That’s what an empire looks like. David is building a system where opposition will be minimal and obedience assured. It won’t last of course. Not only will tensions between religious voices and political power persist, so will the inner strife between his own sons. This narrative will take us all the way to Rome - and the role of the pope as both political and spiritual ruler, in the footsteps of Jesus, who is of David’s line. This has a lot to do with how we got here today at least in countries inspired by Christian and Colonial models.
And with an eye on what’s happening in Jerusalem right now, we wonder how many of the political gridlocks have their origins in this story?
Stay tuned.
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